NCEA Physics 1.

1
Electricity Investigation

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 Electricity is a form of Energy
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Electricity is a type of energy.
It can be transformed from
many other types of energy;
kinetic, chemical, nuclear
etc.
We make use of electricity by
transforming it into other
types of energy; light, heat,
sound, kinetic etc., to run
many appliances and
machines.
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 Electricity is a form of Energy

Electricity is all about electrons and their movement. Electrical energy is carried
by electrons, and isn’t the electrons themselves. Electrons can carry varying
amounts of energy. The more energy the faster they move about.

All matter is made up

of atoms. Atoms
consist of protons,
neutrons and
electrons. Protons
have a positive
charge, neutrons
have no charge and
electrons have a
negative charge. The
charges of protons
and electrons are
equal and opposite.
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 Electric charge produced by friction is the same charge which, moving
around a circuit, produces an electric current

There are two types of electricity. Static electricity involves electrons that are
moved from one place to another, usually by friction and it is stationary.
Current electricity involves the movement of electrons through a conductor
and it flows.

Static electricity Current electricity

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 An electric current is a flow of charge

Electric current is the rate of flow of electric charge. Particles called

electrons carry the electric charge. While some substances called conductors
conduct very well, e.g. metals, other substances are not able to conduct or
nearly conduct no electric current, e.g. glass. Electric current is nearly as fast
as the speed of light.

NOTE:
The charge of an electron is
negative. Previously people +
thought that positive
particles serve as charge
carriers. Due to this error the
current flow is moving in the
-
Direction
opposite direction of the of “current
electrons by convention flow”
from the positive terminal to
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the negative terminal.
 The ‘voltage’ of an electrical supply is a measure of the energy it can
transfer from an electrical supply elsewhere

An electric current won't flow

through a circuit unless there's a
source of energy like a battery or
mains electricity to push the
electric charges along through the
wire.

'Voltage' is a measure of how much

energy the electric charges have
between two points in a circuit.

Voltage is also known as potential

difference. The more potential
difference the more energy is
available to be transferred into
components attached to a circuit.
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 The properties of simple electric circuits

Electrical current occurs when electrons flow through a conductor from an

area which is negatively charged to an area which is positively charged.

A circuit is a continuous
pathway around which
electrons can flow. The
movement of electric current
can be compared with a pipe
full of water: If water is put in
the pipe on the one end, water
will drip out on the other side
immediately.

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 There is a need for a complete circuit when making use of electricity

A circuit is
made up of
electrical
components
connected
together so
electrons move
through the
components.

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 There is a need for a complete circuit when making use of electricity

A circuit must be closed for the electrons to flow and produce a current.

A switch
breaks the
circuit when it
is opened and
the flow of
electrons
stops, resulting
in no current.

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 Circuit diagrams use symbols to represent components in a circuit

These symbols can be used universally by electricians and scientists

regardless of their different languages to show how different circuits are
arranged.

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 Ammeters are used in circuits to measure Amps

We can measure the amount of electric current

flowing in a circuit with a device called an
ammeter. The unit of electric current is the
Amp - which is often abbreviated to the letter
A, especially if it comes after a number. So, for
example, 3 Amps can also be written 3A.

To measure the current flowing in a circuit you

must connect the ammeter in series with the
other components

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 Voltage can be measured with a voltmeter

A voltmeter is used to measure voltage or

potential difference and is placed in
parallel to an appliance. We can measure
the energy of electric charges in a circuit
before they enter a bulb and after they
leave it by putting a voltmeter in parallel
across the bulb like this:

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 There are two types of circuits; Series and Parallel

In a Series circuit there is only one pathway for the electricity to flow, and in a
Parallel circuit there is more than one pathway for the electricity to flow.

Series Circuit Parallel Circuit

One pathway More than one pathway

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 In a series circuit, the electrons move along one path

The electrical current flows through one component then the next – more
lamps added in series cause their brightness to decrease.

Series Circuit Circuit drawing

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 In a parallel circuit, electrons have a choice of two or more pathways.

More lights added in parallel do not effect the brightness.

Parallel Circuit Circuit drawing

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 In Series circuits, the current is the same at any point on the circuit

Current =
1 truck
A
(amps)
Current

In series circuits, components

A are connected on after the
other. All of the current must
travel through each of the Current =
components in turn. 1 truck
(amp)

A
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 In Series circuits, the voltage is shared out around the circuit

Voltage
Current =
1 truck
(amps) Current A
A The current is the same at all points
around a series circuit.
The total voltage = sum of voltage
across all components i.e. voltage is
shared out V

Voltage = 1/2 Current =

load (volts) 1 truck
(amp)
V

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A
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 In parallel circuits, the current is shared out between branches

Total
Current =
2 trucks
(amps) Current
A

A
Branch
Current = 1
truck (amp)

A
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 In parallel circuits, the voltage is the same across all branches

Voltage
Current =
2 trucks
(amps) The total
Current
A current in
V the circuit =
sum of the
currents i.e.
A current is
shared.
Voltage = The voltage
whole load Current = 1
is the same
(volts) truck (amp)
across all
branches
V around a
parallel
circuit.
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A
 Current and Voltage in Parallel and Series circuits

Current Voltage
Series >Same everywhere in the >total voltage coming out of
circuit battery is all used up by
>Doesn’t increase as more components (i.e. bulb)
bulbs added >total voltage loss is shared
between components

Parallel >total current coming out >total voltage loss is the same
of battery is shared across all components
amongst branches
>increases as more bulbs
added

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 Advantages and Disadvantages of Parallel and Series circuits

Advantage Disadvantage
Wiring Other bulbs remain working More current is needed when
done in if one bulb is blown or extra bulbs added
parallel removes The battery runs out quicker
All bulbs glow brightly

Wiring You can turn off all of the If one bulb is disconnected the
done in appliances / lights with one circuit is not complete and all the
series switch bulbs will go out
The wiring is simpler Resistance of the circuit is
greater if more than one bulb –
the other bulbs don’t glow as
brightly
Hard to find the blown bulb

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 The effects and uses of conductors and insulators

Electrons can travel freely in conductors such as metal.

Electrons can’t travel through insulators such as plastic.

Conductors insulators

e- e-
No
e- electrons flow
electrons e-

e- Direction
of flow e-

good conductors have very low

resistance Insulators have high resistance.
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 Conductors allow the flow of current through them and insulators
prevent the flow of current through them

Conductors
Copper is considered to be a
conductor because it “conducts” the
electron current or flow of electrons
fairly easily. Most metals are
considered to be good conductors of
electrical current. Copper is just one of
the more popular materials that is
used for conductors.
Other materials that are sometimes
used as conductors are silver, gold,
and aluminium.

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 Conductors allow the flow of current through them and insulators
prevent the flow of current through them

Insulators
Insulators are materials that have
just the opposite effect on the flow
of electrons. They do not let
electrons flow very easily from one
atom to another. Insulators are
materials whose atoms have tightly
bound electrons. These electrons are
not free to roam around and be
shared by neighbouring atoms.
Some common insulator materials
are glass, plastic, rubber, air, and
wood

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 power = voltage x current

Power (symbol P) is the rate at which electrical energy is used by a component

or supplied by an energy source. Power is measured in watts, W.

The watt (symbol: W) is equal to

one joule per second.
A person climbing a flight of stairs
is doing work at the rate of about
200 watts; a highly trained athlete
can work at up to approximately
2,000 watts for brief periods. An
car engine produces 25,000 watts
while cruising. A typical
household lightbulb uses 40 to
100 watts.

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 power = voltage x current

Electric power, like mechanical power, is

represented by the letter P in electrical

P
equations.

where
P is the power (watt or W)
I is the current (ampere or A)

V I
V is the potential difference (volt or V)

Power increases if either the current or the

voltage increases.

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 Electrical resistance

Resistance (symbol R) measures how difficult it is for current to move through a

component. Resistance is measured in ohms (symbol Ω)

Resisters will reduce the

current that flows through
a circuit. Components that
add resistance to a circuit
can often transform
electrical energy in light,
sound or heat energy.

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 The resistance of a component (in ohms) = voltage across component /
current through component

Resistance is calculated using R = V/I

The resistance of an object determines

the amount of current through the

V object for a given voltage across the

object.

where

I R
R is the resistance of the object,
usually measured in ohms
V is the voltage across the object,
usually measured in volts
I is the current through the object,
The higher the resistance the less the usually measured in amperes
current.
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